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Noodler's Black Pen Safety


citricacidcycle

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After weeks of searching for a bottle of Noodler's Black Ink, my local brick and mortar finally received a shipment and reserved a 3oz bottle for me.

 

I was told that the while the ink performs very very well on cheap paper and has amazing water resistance, I was advised by the worker that I shouldn't use this ink in demonstrator pens like the TWSBI Diamond 580/Vac 700 or any clear pen at that, because "the ink will stain the inside of the pen." Is that statement true?

 

If that's the case (or not the case), will this Noodler's Black be safe to use in converters such as the LAMY converter or Platinum converter?

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I've had it in a TWSBI Eco for months with no issues whatsoever.

The Good Captain

"Meddler's 'Salamander' - almost as good as the real thing!"

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Me either. I've had OTHER issues with the ink (because it's "bulletproof", i.e., cellulose-reactive only the very bottom of the ink on the page adheres well, so it's smudgy). But not with it staining (I had it in a Preppy set up as a rollerball); PR Invincible Black, OTOH? That stained another Preppy like crazy (I had both Preppy rollerballs inked up at the same time to do comparisons, and the staining from PRIB was the only way I could tell the two pens apart).

But because of the smudging issue, I prefer Noodler's Heart of Darkness, which dries faster, especially on better paper.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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I use this as my standard black, don't do all that much pen cleaning compulsively, and I have never had this ink stain or clog a pen. Just my experience...

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Even if an ink stains a converter, what have you lost? A 5 or 10 dollar converter, one you can use again when you next fill with that ink?

 

Higher risk: staining clothing or furniture -- even drops can make a mess. That was the all-time complaint against liquid inks, a reason why Parker and Sheaffer competed to have a cleaner filling system, and one of the reasons people, in the 1950's, liked the ballpoint. Take care.

Washington Nationals 2019: the fight for .500; "stay in the fight"; WON the fight

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I've had it in a TWSBI Eco for months with no issues whatsoever.

That’s great to know! Thanks for your input!

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Even if an ink stains a converter, what have you lost? A 5 or 10 dollar converter, one you can use again when you next fill with that ink?

 

Higher risk: staining clothing or furniture -- even drops can make a mess. That was the all-time complaint against liquid inks, a reason why Parker and Sheaffer competed to have a cleaner filling system, and one of the reasons people, in the 1950's, liked the ballpoint. Take care.

Agreed. The converter is definitely easily replaceable, and on that thought maybe I should get a couple more converters to have on hand in case of an “emergency.”

My main concern was the ink’s properties if I were to fill it in a piston or vacuum mechanism demonstrator pen, like a TWSBI or Pilot 74, both of which are on my watch list as an every day workhorse. Thanks!

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Me either. I've had OTHER issues with the ink (because it's "bulletproof", i.e., cellulose-reactive only the very bottom of the ink on the page adheres well, so it's smudgy). But not with it staining (I had it in a Preppy set up as a rollerball); PR Invincible Black, OTOH? That stained another Preppy like crazy (I had both Preppy rollerballs inked up at the same time to do comparisons, and the staining from PRIB was the only way I could tell the two pens apart).

But because of the smudging issue, I prefer Noodler's Heart of Darkness, which dries faster, especially on better paper.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

X-Feather, Heart of Darkness, and Black were all available for purchase, but I ended up just getting a bottle of black. Maybe I should have gotten the other two...?! Haha! I’m planning on using this ink for work, so I needed a strong black that will work on poor quality paper, which I heart the standard Black performs well on. Thank you!
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I've only ever had blue inks stain pens, really. Particularly baystate blue, though blue velvet has also stained a noodlers charlie.

 

I don't have basic black, but heart of darkness is A-OK in my demonstrators.

 

Over time, there's basically no stopping a demonstrator from discoloring to some degree. It's just part of the pen's natural patina.

Selling a boatload of restored, fairly rare, vintage Japanese gold nib pens, click here to see (more added as I finish restoring them)

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Order Heart of Darkness. Replace Noodler's Black with it. No smudging. No feathering. Cleans up even easier. Comes in a huge bottle.

 

You're welcome.

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Nonsense. That sales person doesn't know what he's talking about.

 

Noodler's black does not stain pens. Noodler's Bay State Blue does stain pens, and the sales person is confusing those two facts.

 

I use Noodler's Black as my go-to black ink. It's bulletproof - which means that it can't be removed from paper after it dries. But that also means that it will stain clothing made from cellulose-based fabrics.

 

It's also highly saturated which means that it lays down a very dense line that does tend to smudge simply because it is so very dense. That problem can be resolved by diluting the ink a bit with water.

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Order Heart of Darkness. Replace Noodler's Black with it. No smudging. No feathering. Cleans up even easier. Comes in a huge bottle.

 

You're welcome.

My mistake. HoD wasn't part of the recent restock at my local store. Only X-Feather and Black. I'll definitely keep an eye out for HoD though, as I've said before the paper used at my work is worse of the worst.

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Nonsense. That sales person doesn't know what he's talking about.

 

Noodler's black does not stain pens. Noodler's Bay State Blue does stain pens, and the sales person is confusing those two facts.

 

I use Noodler's Black as my go-to black ink. It's bulletproof - which means that it can't be removed from paper after it dries. But that also means that it will stain clothing made from cellulose-based fabrics.

 

It's also highly saturated which means that it lays down a very dense line that does tend to smudge simply because it is so very dense. That problem can be resolved by diluting the ink a bit with water.

Thanks for the tip! So far I have no complaints with Noodler's Black. Someone mentioned to me that it's forgery proof, but on Noodler's site it doesn't mention anything about having that ability. Aren't all Bulletproof inks forgery proof anyways?

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My mistake. HoD wasn't part of the recent restock at my local store. Only X-Feather and Black. I'll definitely keep an eye out for HoD though, as I've said before the paper used at my work is worse of the worst.

I would be wary of using HoD on the worst of worst. There's nothing wrong with HoD. Just know that it's more penetrating than regular Black. It's actually designed for better papers (relative to regular black). Regular black was designed for newpaper. X-feather for even worse than newspaper (I dunno, maybe recycled newpaper, toilet paper?). As such, it resists soaking into the paper.

 

Trouble then is on normal paper, or quality papers like Rhodia. If the ink doesn't soak in, it pools on top. That means it takes forever and ever to dry. And once it does, there's a "thick" layer of dried ink atop the paper. That smudges easily.

 

HoD however will enter the paper more easily, speeding drying and reducing pooling/smudging. This is not to say that HoD is a bleeding, feathery mess. HoD is a quality ink. Just different.

 

For regular black, do consider diluting it.

 

Thanks for the tip! So far I have no complaints with Noodler's Black. Someone mentioned to me that it's forgery proof, but on Noodler's site it doesn't mention anything about having that ability. Aren't all Bulletproof inks forgery proof anyways?

I'm not sure what forgery-proof is supposed to mean. Then again "bulletproof" is a marketing term. It just means it can't be erased without lots and lots of effort. And usually by then, the paper itself would be in poor shape. Someone did erase Bulletproof Black using lasers though. And then a new set of inks were born after that.

 

http://noodlersink.com/noodlers-ink-properties/

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I would be wary of using HoD on the worst of worst. There's nothing wrong with HoD. Just know that it's more penetrating than regular Black. It's actually designed for better papers (relative to regular black). Regular black was designed for newpaper. X-feather for even worse than newspaper (I dunno, maybe recycled newpaper, toilet paper?). As such, it resists soaking into the paper.

 

Trouble then is on normal paper, or quality papers like Rhodia. If the ink doesn't soak in, it pools on top. That means it takes forever and ever to dry. And once it does, there's a "thick" layer of dried ink atop the paper. That smudges easily.

 

HoD however will enter the paper more easily, speeding drying and reducing pooling/smudging. This is not to say that HoD is a bleeding, feathery mess. HoD is a quality ink. Just different.

 

For regular black, do consider diluting it.

 

I'm not sure what forgery-proof is supposed to mean. Then again "bulletproof" is a marketing term. It just means it can't be erased without lots and lots of effort. And usually by then, the paper itself would be in poor shape. Someone did erase Bulletproof Black using lasers though. And then a new set of inks were born after that.

 

http://noodlersink.com/noodlers-ink-properties/

 

I've never had problems with HoD on any paper. I can't recall it feathering on much and it dries fast. I work for a big company and I've worked in government, neither are spending a cent more on paper than necessary. Plus laser jet paper is VERY ink unfriendly.

 

I have used a lot of all 3 (x-feather too). I just find myself going to regular black less and less. HoD is the standard and I use it and Aurora black to test most new pens to see how they do. I use x-feather when work buys especially cheap notebooks. It does smudge as does black though on anything but the most terrible of paper. Hence why I find HoD the best all around.

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I use x-feather when work buys especially cheap notebooks. It does smudge as does black though on anything but the most terrible of paper. Hence why I find HoD the best all around.

 

How does HoD fare on those especially cheap notebooks? Which ink works better on them?

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How does HoD fare on those especially cheap notebooks? Which ink works better on them?

 

I've never used plain Black or X-feather (I rarely use black so once I found one that worked I didn't look further), but Heart of Darkness works just fine on the half-step-above-newsprint featured at my office. Minimal if any feathering (depends on the nib) and dries quickly. My Tombow rollerball in fine feathers more than a medium Prera with Heart of Darkness.

Yet another Sarah.

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